I’ve been spending a lot of time lately thinking about how I can improve different aspects about myself and my life. I’ve taken up meditation again, and am attending a class at UAB specializing in shamatha meditation. I’ll also be taking a tai chi class starting next month. I still haven’t found a new place to workout. I would like to pick up yoga and/or pilates again, but the places where I used to go are either closed or not having those classes due to lack of instructors.

Oh well, hopefully something will come along soon. I figure, if anything, it’s warmer now and I can take up walking and running at the civic center again. That’s free. Free is good.

I want to lose a little weight, not much, but close enough to my pre-wedding weight. I can really tell a difference with the amount I’ve gained back and the lack of consistent exercise/activity … I ache more and generally don’t feel as well as I did. (and it doesn’t help that my meds make me want to eat EVERYTHING in sight!)

The other day when Jim and I stopped by Wal-mart, I stopped to look at a hoodia display. I haven’t seen a whole lot about this particular supplement, but I do know several people who swear by it. Part of me (the logical part) tells me that I need to talk to my doctor and see about getting something that she recommends, but another part of me wonders if it really works and maybe I should try it …

Of course, every time I bring up my weight with my doctor, she tells me that I don’t need to lose any.

I have absolutely HATED the taste of lemon in my sweet tea for years. To this day, one of the quickest ways to get on my ‘bad side’ is to put one of those sour slices of Hades in my tea — especially if I had just asked someone not to do so. I’m pretty obsessive/neurotic about this, and don’t see myself getting past it anytime soon.

Someone recently asked me why, besides the taste, I didn’t like lemons in my tea; and why couldn’t I just quietly take it out (and not make a fuss over it) like a “normal person.” I told her that I didn’t like the idea of someone (not me) putting their fingers in my drink. She said that if they do it right, no fingers touch my drink, just pop the lemon on the edge of the glass. I replied that we were assuming that the lemons being distributed were cut on a clean (sterilized!) cutting board or similar surface, and that the person or persons handling the slices/wedges were wearing gloves at the time, or used whatever scooping device to prevent them from touching unclean hands and/or another unclean surface.

That’s assuming a lot if you ask me.

I’ve worked in the food industry and I know for a fact that not all eatery/restaurant employees would be as diligent as I am about working with clean hands when dealing with food of any kind and maintaining a sanitary working/cooking environment so as to prevent any kind of contamination. That said, I’m glad to know that there have been many recent studies done which backup my “lemon paranoia,” including this one featured on SlashFood today! There’s even an entry on Snopes about it.

While the following video could be seen more as a scare tactic, the issue itself seems to still be open to debate. In the meantime, I will continue to be overly cautious about what I eat/drink when going out. (I can thank my mother for this neurosis, LOL!)

Decide for yourself:

I’m finally starting to catch up with my feeds and wanted to comment on a few here…

First and foremost, there was a bag featured on fellow Cotillion member RightWingSparkle earlier today that I would *love* to have! Nothing says, “Hands off, creep!” like this … don’t you agree?

And via my Funny Pages, here’s a little insight as to why I don’t trust “men’s intuition,” hehehe…

In the “You have GOT to be fscking kidding me!” category, there were several gems courtesy of Rachel Lucas that I wanted to highlight, but my absolute favorite has to be this one:

That’s a picture of a padded lightpost in London. Apparently there are a lot of people practicing “unsafe texts” (walking and texting) and are harming themselves by walking into things and people. I say screw the padding, that’s natural selection — if they are stupid enough not to watch where the hell they are going, that’s their tough nookie isn’t it?

In the “Ewwwww, that’s so wrong!” category, we have this via Sad Old Goth:

The jokes pretty much write themselves here, and that’s just disturbing on so many levels.

On the personal front, Jessie is still sick but has finally shaken free of her fever. Getting her to actually TAKE her meds and keep them down however, has been another issue altogether. She’s over at her mother’s tonight and over the next 3-4 days. I can’t help but worry about her taking her meds as prescribed by our doctor.

Her mother is notorious for not enforcing discipline and actually MAKING Jessie take her medicine as instructed.

I tried to impress upon her the importance of taking the meds and told Jessie that if she wasn’t well by this weekend she was going back to the doctor Monday. (per doctor’s request) That pissed her off and once she saw her mother, she wanted nothing to do with me — which is usually par for the course most days.

I’m the “evil stepmom” don’tchaknow.

Oh well, I can only do what I can do and hope like mad that her mother will actually GROW UP one day and take responsibility for her child’s health and well-being for a change … but I may be asking for too much there. ;P

I had chosen to work from home yesterday, and now I’m glad that I did. There were a few things around the house that *had* to be done, and I was feeling pretty proud of myself because I had gotten up in enough time to get an early start on things. At 7:30 I opened my work email and worked on a few things there. I made breakfast and piddled around in the kitchen a little bit and was feeling pretty good.

Then it hit me … the Mother of All Headaches.

About 10 I started feeling it, the crushing pain on the back of my neck and my temples. Then my eyes started throbbing. I thought, “No big deal, I’ll take an Axert and a hot shower and that’ll help.”

It only got worse from there.

I started feeling nauseous. I mean REALLY nauseous — we’re talking Lamaze-type breathing just to try to keep volatile projectile puking my insides out nausea.

It didn’t work.

I was unable to hold food down pretty much all day. I drank some juice. That didn’t work either. I had to ride out and pick up Jessie’s new glasses, so I did that and thought that picking up one of my favorite meals might help perk me up. I got home, took another Axert and a Sudafed, and sat my happy butt down to eat some Krystals chiks. (but I held off on the hotsauce this time, dont’chaknow!)

Bad idea … WTF was I thinking?!

I had about 2 fries and those “came back to visit.” By this point it’s 2:30, my head feels like it’s in the Vice Grips from Hell, my heart is racing wildly, I’m afraid to take anything else, and I’m calling my doctor’s office to see if she can work me in. The receptionist asked me if it was an emergency. I said, “Well, if she can’t see me soon, I’m going to the ER right now!” She put me on hold for a moment and asked me if I could come in at 3. Jessie’s school is a few minutes from my doctor’s office and I knew I could pick her up and swing by there.

I swear sometimes I think I need one of those medical alert bracelets or something when I have one of these “Uber Mega Headaches from Hades”!

Poor little Jessie, she is the absolute SWEETEST person on the face of this earth — when she wants to be. ;P And yesterday, she took one look at me and said, “You’re paler than you usually are. Are those my new glasses? Cool!”

LOL.

She patiently sat with me in the waiting room while I waited for my name to be called, and talked to me the whole time to keep my mind “off being sick.” (Isn’t that adorable?) I think she looked at nearly every magazine in the room and took care in pointing out everything to me. When I turned away from a food advertisement, she asked what was wrong. I explained that I was trying hard to concentrate on not throwing up, so food didn’t interest me right then. She’s quiet for a moment then says, “Oh. Well food interests me a LOT. I’m hungry!”

That’s my girl.

Jim had texted me to tell me he was leaving work and should he meet me there. I was told by one of the nurses that it would be best if someone came to pick me up when we were done, so I told him to “come on.” We had been called into a room and sat down with my doctor’s nurse. I explained what was going on and what all I had taken up to that point (and what I think came back up). Jim comes in right before the doctor shows up, so he gets to sit in there with us too. (much to Jessie’s delight!)

I explained to her what all happened and what I had taken. She takes my blood pressure and my pulse (by this time it was down closer to normal). She runs several tests and determines that it wasn’t flu or anything, just a really bad migraine.

I think I would have much rather had the flu by that point! ;P

She asks me if I want a shot to ease my pain and nausea. I agreed, and while they’re being prepared, we’re told that I’m not to drive for the rest of the day/night. Jim looks at me and asks about my car.

At that point, I was ready to give it away … gimme the damned shot!!

I told him that I would leave it there and pick it up the next day (today). He didn’t like that idea and voiced his concerns. The doctor looks at me and then at him and says, “She cannot drive if she gets this shot.”

I looked at Jim and said, “I am GETTING this shot!” We had to sign some sort of release form stating that he was driving me and would not let me drive yesterday or last night.

So I get a shot of Nubain for the migraine and a shot of Fenergan for the nausea. The migraine went away within an hour, but my nausea mostly subsided. It was never really gone until this morning when I got up.

I’m feeling much better today, but God help me, I don’t ever want to go through one that strong again!

I snagged this from fellow Cotillion member Conservative Belle. This was a bit of an eye-opener for me, and what really got to me were the statistics. I had NO idea how many women die from heart disease every year!

You know I love y’all dearly. Take a few minutes to read over the following post and see what you can’t do to make sure your heart stays in shape!

Today kicks off the first day of American Heart Month. In the month of February, Americans are spreading awareness of heart disease and prevention. In particular, women everywhere need to examine their lifestyles and determine what changes are necessary to prevent heart disease.

Leading the charge of this awareness campaign for several years is none other than our lovely First Lady Laura Bush. She is the Heart Truth ambassador and has been since Valentine’s Day in 2003. Heart Truth is the organization dedicated to making women aware of the risks of heart disease.

According to Dr. Tedd Mitchell writing in USAToday, the statistics are improving for awareness. But the risks are still great without taking action.

According to hearttruth.gov, in 2000, only 34% of women were aware that heart disease was the No. 1 killer of American women. By 2006, that had increased to 57%. Despite the gains, the campaign remains in full swing: “We want women not only to understand that it’s a killer, but also that the ‘classic’ sign of heart attack [chest pain] may not be present,” the first lady says. “Symptoms in women tend to be different than in men. Decreased energy, indigestion, pain in unusual areas such as the jaw or neck — these should not be dismissed.”

Ladies, assess your risk. Know your numbers: blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar. These are risks that lead to heart disease. You also should know your family history. Did a parent have heart disease at an early age? Do you have a brother or sister with heart disease? If so, your risk might be increased.

Did you know?

Top 5 causes of death for American women One in four women dies from heart disease, making it the No. 1 killer of American women, regardless of race. Here’s the death toll in a recent year:

Heart disease: 332,000
Stroke: 91,000
Lung cancer: 68,000
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: 64,000
Breast cancer: 41,000
Source: 2004 figures from National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Heart Truth has some tips for women to prevent this deadly disease.

1. Don’t smoke, and if you do, quit. Women who smoke are two to six times more likely to suffer a heart attack than non-smoking women. Smoking also boosts the risk of stroke and cancer.
2. Aim for a healthy weight. It’s important for a long, vigorous life. Overweight and obesity cause many preventable deaths.
3. Get moving. Make a commitment to be more physically active. Aim for 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most, preferably all, days of the week.
4. Eat for heart health. Choose a diet low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol, and moderate in total fat.
5. Know your numbers. Ask your doctor to check your blood pressure, cholesterol (total, HDL, LDL, triglycerides), and blood glucose. Work with your doctor to improve any numbers that are not normal.

So today I am making a pledge. I promise to exercise 30 minutes every single day in the month of February beginning today. That’s 29 days because it’s a leap year. And I will even post in the comments here every week to prove I’m doing it.

And in addition, I’m challenging all of my Cotillion sisters (a group of at least 50 women) to do the same thing. So what say you, ladies? Up for the challenge?

What about the rest of you? Will you pledge to do it too?

Edit: Also, a great way to help out is to sponsor someone who’s in a program like Jump Rope for Heart. The kids in our area do it every year and it’s a great way to get involved with your kids and instill the importance of keeping your heart healthy!